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“Yeah?” I tried to smile, but my teeth clicked together. “I’m s-so c-cold.”
Swearing under his breath, Talon retrieved his phone from his pocket. “Twilight? Get the boat around to this side of the island ASAP. We have Eden.”
He described our location, then carried me to the side of the cavern out of the wind. He gently cupped my injured cheek. “Lemaire did this?”
“Yeah. And…he forced me to go with him. A compulsion. I mean, I would’ve gone with him anyway. I couldn’t stay in a burning building.” My throat worked. “Why d-did he have to do that? I felt so h-h-helpless.”
Talon’s face darkened. “He’s vermin,” he said, tight-jawed. His lips touched my bruised flesh, soft as a butterfly’s wings. “He’s going down. I promise.”
“G-good,” I said fiercely as another shiver racked my body.
“Hang on,” Talon crooned, rocking back and forth with me. “Can you do that for me, baby? I’d light a fire, but Twilight will be here with the boat any minute now.”
“But w-what about B-B-Brien?” I asked.
“Don’t worry,” Talon said without looking away from me. “He’s winning.”
“But—” I blinked rapidly, my chilled brain uncomprehending. “Sh-shouldn’t you be h-helping him?”
A groove formed between Talon’s thick dark brows. “You’re my priority. You and the baby. Brien can take care of himself.”
I still didn’t understand—everyone knew Brien came first with Talon. “B-but the blood oath—”
“Look at me.” Talon nudged my chin with a finger, waiting until he had my full attention. “Fuck the blood oath,” he said, slowly and succinctly. “You’re what matters. You’re more important. To me, you’re everything. Understand?”
When I nodded, he buried his face in my neck. His shoulders heaved. “Don’t ever get kidnapped again. I mean it.”
I actually chuckled through my chattering teeth. “I d-didn’t do it d-deliberately.”
“I know. But…just don’t, okay? I don’t think I could survive it.”
36
Talon
I’d thought I’d lost Eden.
I don’t think I’d ever forget the terrible fear that had clogged my chest when we’d spotted the fire in the distance, red-hot fingers clawing at the midnight sky.
Eden was human. She couldn’t survive long in a blaze like that.
“That’s the lair.” Pascal had somehow summoned a smug smile from where he was draped over Cain’s shoulders. “Lemaire must’ve set a fire to keep you bastards out.”
I covered those last few hundred meters in two of my heartbeats. The fishing shed walls had caved in. Flames shot out of the roof, licked at the charred framing. A section of the ground had collapsed, revealing a metal staircase leading down into the flames.
Brien and Cain caught up again with Pascal. I pulled him off Cain and shook him like a rag doll. “Is there another way in?”
Pascal’s face contorted, but only a single, pained grunt escaped him. He stared at me, hatred in his remaining eye. “No. That’s the only way.”
We all knew the prick was probably lying—a vampire lair always has at least two exits—but there was no time to beat the information out of him. He might not even know where the other exit was.
I tossed him away and turned back, muscles bunched to dash through the flames. Brien caught my arm. “Hang on—we need a plan.”
I shook him off. “Eden’s in there. The plan is to fucking extract her before the whole damn place collapses on top of her.”
I didn’t wait for an answer. Filling my lungs with oxygen, I shot forward, scrambling over and around the burning debris. When I reached the steps, I kept going, taking them in a single leap and landing in a crouch in front of the burning door at the bottom.
My shirt and pants had caught fire. I slapped at the flames to extinguish them. My skin was scorched, but the pain seemed far away. I noted it and moved on.
